Primary care research and clinical practice: gastroenterology.
Gastrointestinal problems account for a significant proportion of general practitioners' workload, and gastrointestinal cancers, taken together, make up the largest group of malignancies. Approximately 10% of consultations in general practice in the UK are for gastrointestinal symptoms or problems, split roughly equally between the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. Gastroenterology represents about 10% of the work of hospital specialists and the prescribing costs involved in the management of gastrointestinal disorders in general practice are around 14% of the drug budget. These disorders range from relatively minor and self limiting conditions such as acute gastritis and acute gastroenteritis, through the more significant, chronic digestive disorders such as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and coeliac disease, to much more serious problems including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and upper gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer.
Jones
R
R
King's College London, Department of General Practice & Primary Care, London, UK. roger.jones@kcl.ac.uk
D005194:Family Practice; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011364:Professional Practice